An epic

It was worth the wait.

A 43-42 win by the Pirates on a last second shot by Jason Jensen in front of a standing room only crowd in Luck was one of the best sporting events I’ve ever seen. If you weren’t there no description would match the intensity and the atmosphere of the game.

Both teams played their guts out and, I hate this cliche, both teams deserved to win.

I thought I would be smart and get to the game an hour early to make sure I got a seat. I was not smart enough. It was standing room only for the game that preceded the marquee matchup. It was a non-conference girls game between Luck and Bruce (Luck won, by the way). I knew something was up when I had to park about four blocks away. I heard that a lot of people left because of the seating situation. I had heard that the seating capacity was 850 and I would guess there were about 100 people standing to take in the game. I ended up with a great spot because I stood behind the baseline and was about five feet from being in bounds. It was pretty cool.

Notes:

Grantsburg did not hold a lead until 3 seconds left in the game. Luck had as much as a nine point lead in the game.

Brennan Olson had 25 points in the game, but failed to score in the fourth quarter.

Luck was 0-8 on free throws (unofficially), Grantsburg was 3-8.

There were two dunks in the game. Harry Severson-Dickinson and Brennan Olson were the players.

The JV boys teams were both undefeated coming into tonight. Grantsburg won that game by six. (I did not hear the final score).

The usually deep bench for the Pirates really got shortened for tonight and I think it was key. Grantsburg has played a regular rotation of eight players, which gives their starters a lot of rest during the first part of the season. During the fourth quarter of tonight’s game you could see that Grantsburg had more energy than did the Cardinals.

Odds are Grantsburg’s gym on February 20th will be the loudest you’ve ever heard. Take my advice and get to that one early. It will be worth your three bucks!

I wonder how the rankings will be shaken up with this game. Luck was ranked 3rd in the state, Grantsburg was ranked 11th. I’ll let you know as soon as I find out.